The latest news image promo from KMGH Denver uses examples from its community involvement and news coverage. “We didn’t want to just tell people what we are about, we wanted to show them,” says Travis Lupher, KMGH’s promotion manager.
There is a practice in local TV news promotion that calls for examples from the station’s news coverage to make a point. These promos are referred to as POPs for Proof Of Performance.
In most cases, these POPs are written, edited and aired immediately after the station’s news department performs well on a breaking news story.
For example, it scoops the other local TV stations on a story or has an exclusive angle to a story no one else has.
In the POP, a claim is made, “WXXX was first to show you”, or “WXXX was the only station”, and then examples are shown that prove the point.
These POPs get a lot of airtime for a few days and then go away.
But this technique of using performance examples to substantiate a claim can be used to make powerful, longer-form image promos that have longer shelf lives.
KMGH, branded as Denver7, the Scripps ABC affiliate in the Mile High City, has a new image promo focusing on the station’s involvement in the community.
The station used behind-the-scenes, improvised, unrehearsed moments of its talent working on community projects.
To have those examples, you must be there when they happen to capture moments that are genuine and feel real and authentic to the viewers.
Travis Lupher, Denver7’s promotion manager, says the station has been focusing heavily on its community involvement in its marketing. So when KMGH on-air personalities are out in the community, “we would have our creative services producers go out and shoot some stuff.” Lupher says. “We didn’t want to just tell people what we are about, we wanted to show them.”
He says the clips don’t show the station giving a check or painting a fence.
“You don’t necessarily need to know what we did to feel it,” he adds.
The 60-second promo also uses carefully curated and edited sound bites from its news coverage.
“Through our actions, we bring our community together and make Colorado the best it can be,” Lupher says. “We take the time to listen, we step up when needed, and we stand up for what’s right. It’s about uniting communities, too, because we are showing the footage to back it up.”
Brian Joyce, Denver7’s general manager, says, the station’s brand and identity is all about heart in its news coverage and community involvement.
“We’re trying to be very consistent with the stories we tell now, so they’re consistent with who we are,” Joyce says.
Joyce says that the station likes to hire people that care about the community, and want to volunteer.
In addition to shooting their own footage during community activities, the creative services producers keep their eyes on quality sound bites and other b-roll that they archive all year long so that they’re prepared for using it in image promotion.
“Throughout the year we are constantly archiving our big moments,” Lupher says. “Whether it’s a Denver7 investigation, a community involvement event or one of our Denver7 Gives initiatives, we are always cataloging. This process made it a lot easier when locating footage for the final edit.”
Lupher says his department has a large archive of footage and the producers are very particular about finding the correct sound bite or clip that works.
“Every sound bite has to have a purpose to take the script to the next level,” he says.
The latest promo leaned on clips collected throughout the year.
“I would say it is an image spot first, and a year-end review second,” Lupher says.
Lupher, whose been at KMGH for eight years, the last three as promotion manager, credits James Dougherty and Erin Kirby, writer/producers in his department, as the ones who spent the time shooting and gathering all the elements.
“It was tedious for sure,” he says.
Dougherty spent three weeks finding the proper clips and sound bites and going through the edits, tweaking things here, moving stuff around there, Lupher says.
The music used was a cut from the Stephen Arnold Music production library.
“I had the music laid out and the script and then it’s like just fitting in the puzzle,” he says.
Lupher says the main goal of the promo is “to give the viewer a feeling of what we are all about. Uniting our community and out there every day trying to make a difference and visually showing it. Just that Denver7 cares about our community.”
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